Understanding
by Zandrel
Summary: Sorting out the 'Ares is Xena's father' problem.
1. Legend

**All Xena:Warrior Princess Characters do not belong to me. This story is for entertainment purposes only.**

**Reviews and Suggestions are greatly appreciated. :)**

_How in Tartarus could he do that to me?_ The Warrior's thoughts whirled furiously inside her head._ How dare_  
_he try to get me to kill my own mother? Ha! Serves him right me convincing the_  
_furies he is my father._

Xena and Gabrielle walked side by side with Argo. Ahead, there was a long dusty road on a quest that was never ending. The bard, as usual, was talking about nothing of importance to the Warrior Princess.

"Isn't that right, Xena?"

"Yes Gabrielle." came the usual reply

The Bard frowned, "Xena, are you OK? You've seemed a little distant lately," she questioned, an expression of utter concern written all over her face.

The raven beauty rolled her eyes. Sometimes her friend could be so clueless.

"I'm fine."

It was all it took for Gabrielle to continue talking and Xena, once again stopped listening until something the bard said sparked her interest.

"...and as you may have heard, the legend goes that many years ago, the God of War fell in love with a beautiful mortal. It also says they had a child. A Child of War."

Xena stopped.

"What did you say Gabrielle?"

"Huh? About Ares having a kid? Oh, I know right? What mortal would freely give herself to that insolent, irritating, good for nothing..."

"She was probably drunk," Xena hastily cut in.

Her mind was racing. If this was the right story she was thinking of, it was real. And she was the main character...


	2. Thoughts

She was probably drunk...

Xena's conversation with Gabrielle yesterday kept running through her head. Maybe she had been drunk, that's why she gave herself to him.

" No" her mind reminded her. "You knew what you were doing, you wanted it."

Xena shook her head as if she was trying to shake out the memories of her and Ares. Then, right out of nowhere, there was that old familiar tingle up and down her spine and….surprise, surprise, the Bastard appeared, in his usual flash of blue light.

The Warrior Princess instinctively drew her sword, ready to attack.

Ares quickly held up his hands though, almost defensively.

"Woah!" he started, walking towards her, looking her straight in the eyes "Aren't you the edgy one today….?"

Just a few steps behind, Gabrielle was watching Xena's every move, a shade of unavowed guilt in her grassy green moons, silently hoping that her pissed friend would just stab the jerk anyway.

"I understand that you have been talking about me…."the God continued, casting daggers in the Blond Bard's direction. " But you, my dear, you have been _thinking about me..._" he made sure to add in Xena's mind.

"Get out of my head you demented Son of a Bacchae!" the Warrior Princess broke out pushing him full force out of her way.

Ares didn't seem to be bothered about it too much nonetheless, and in exchange, he just laughed in her face.

" Well….I'm not the one who can't stop thinking of….. me…or should I say….us?." With a teasing smirk on his face, the God of War disappeared.

Seconds later, a fuming Xena was staring at the spot where the cocky War God had stood.

"Damn him to Tartarus," she mumbled under her breath.

Gabrielle shuffled nervously towards the Warrior Princess.

"What was that all about? Xena….how comes that he's always around? Why do you let him do that?!"

Xena just rolled her eyes.

"And what exactly do you expect me to do about it?! He's…Ares! He's crazy and….. acting stupid as always…"

The displeased Bard let out a loud sigh:

"I suppose….. Listen, why don't we find a clearing and relax for the rest of the day?" she finally suggested.

Xena nodded.

* * *

Later that night, the two friends sat, eating silently by the fire- with a very absent Xena chewing rather her lower lip than that piece of roasted bird she held in her hand, her busy thoughts obviously wondering in totally different dimensions and with an overly silent Bard staring from her friend to the flames and back, wishing she knew what was wrong…..There was obviously something….

" _That Bastard must have done something to her again….. I wish he'd just leave her alone!"_ Gabrielle's inner soliloquy was interrupted by Xena's ragged voice though, before she got the chance to develop her ideas.

"I'm going to get more firewood," she said, turning her back and walking into the woods.

Gabrielle was speechless…


	3. You Came to Me

Xena drew her sword, seemingly frozen in a waiting stance for a couple of seconds, before she suddenly spun around to parry a blow, sidestepped, then blocked two more.

"Show yourself!" she yelled, her voice commanding and in control.

The wind rustled the leaves as the blue-eyed beauty waited for her invisible opponent to appear.

Close, dangerously close, a dagger flew straight towards her back and she turned around just in time to expertly catch it with her left hand.

There, she faced the War God himself.

"Hello Xena," he said, his eyes focused on hers.

She simply glared at him piercingly- then threw the dagger back. He caught it quite effortlessly of course then slipped it back into his belt.

"So… the mighty Warrior Princess still has that special touch…" he murmured seductively as his eyes began travelling up and down her luscious body.

Completely avoiding his gaze, Xena sheathed her sword, stood up straight and crossed her arms.

Ares took three steps closer.

"What do you want?" she asked hostility, lacing her voice.

"What if I said I just wanted to see you?" he challenged, secretly testing the waters.

"I'd say you're lying," she countered. "You always want something, so what is it?"

"There's an army heading towards Potidea..." the immediate answer escaped the God's lips.

Xena looked up arching an eyebrow. She was obviously concerned for her friend's village and family there.

"What have you done?" she inquired on the harshest of tones.

"Nothing… but I hear they want slaves."

"Why are you telling me this?" came her very next line, a shade of suspicion floating on the surface of her beryl irides. "You hate Gabrielle…..."

"Do I?" a very intrigued Ares mockingly retorted .

"Not really in the mood for your stupid games Ares, so just leave me alone already, ok? And for Zeus's name, stop coming to see me for each and every stupid reason on the planet! It's…harassing! "

"Hey! You came to me, remember? ." He said, taking another step closer, closing in the remaining distance between them." You needed me..." he continued, as his fiery mouth began drawing a passionate trail of kisses on her neck…. As a reward, Xena pushed him back furiously.

…She knew he wasn't talking about the present, but about some unfortunate events that had happened years ago, when she had come to him right after the moment Lyceus was killed.

….. No father, no younger brother, no best friend….. Only her mother, older brother and a damned village blaming and hating her for everything. He had been there for her when she needed him….

"I don't need you any more." She broke out caustically, regretting almost instantly that false, poisonous line.

….The blue sparkles on the ground were the only sign the God of War had been there at all….


	4. What Happened

By the time he reached his temple, Ares was fuming. She rejected him again, despite the fact that he'd even warned her about the irritating blonde's village. She did need him actually, he knew that far too well, but she just refused to admit it! She had always been stubborn, that was true, but still...

Frowning, the God opened up a portal depicting a current war. Everything seemed to be going well, a good day of fighting. His army had only a few more battles until they would take the town. He was pleasantly surprised in fact that the town had lasted that long.

Seconds later he began losing his focus though and slowly, his thoughts started gliding elsewhere. The mirror showed Xena.

'Gods, she is beautiful.' he said to himself, his lips parting unconsciously.

Even though she was only sleeping, her face was framed splendidly by the moonlight. Frustrated with her and himself, Ares threw another lightning bolt, smashing the mirror.

It was then that the bubbly Aphrodite decided to make an entrance.

"Hey bro!" The Love Goddess said cheerfully. She quickly ducked when a lightning bolt came her way. "Woah! What have I done?"

"Just get out Dite. I'm not in the mood OK?!"

Aphrodite approached him carefully. Despite her appearance, she wasn't the type to get easily scared.

Ares had slumped back into his throne and was staring at the wall.

"Bro?" She asked, timidly touching his arm… He was so tense that she thought his veins were going to burst.

"I told you. Get out Dite. I don't want to talk to you!" the God growled, standing up and facing his meddling sister His eyes were darker than usual and looked tired.

A quick scan and the Love Goddess knew what was wrong.

"Ohh, I get it! Its the Warrior Babe!" Her grinned faded as she squealed and dodged a another lightning bolt.

"GET OUT!"

She disappeared in a rain of rose petals and a loud puff…..

"Hmmm, maybe if I tell her to talk to him, everything will be OK" These thoughts had been whirling about in Aphrodite's head for hours. Finally, she decided that in the morning she would go talk to Xena.

* * *

"Hey Warrior Babe!"

"Aphrodite."

"Hey Gabby!"

"Aphrodite! Good to see you."

The Bard and Goddess exchanged a hug and then started chatting as Aphrodite walked with them for awhile. Finally, Xena got impatient, stopped and turned to face their newest travelling companion.

"Alright, what do you want? I know you better than to say your just here to 'catch up'."

The Love Goddess sighed loudly as if she was carrying the weight of the entire world on her shoulders.

"Alright….there is this little something….." She then turned to Gabrielle, gave her a broad smiled and asked:

"Could you please give me and the Warrior Babe a minute sweet cheeks?.'

The Bard simply nodded and walked ahead with Argo.

" OK so, like…..what's up with you and Ares?"

The Warrior rolled her eyes.

"Ares sent you to talk to me. Well you just tell him..."

"No no no! He didn't I swear. He's upset and I had a hunch it was you so I just figured I'd drop by and was ask what happened since he's not really the talkative type….you know…..."

"Well sorry Dite, in this respect me and Ares , we aren't really that different. So just stay out of it will you?."

With that, she started walking away to catch up with Gabrielle.

"Not so fast Xena. What's going on?" came the Love Goddess' firm protest.

Xena sighed.

"I told you to stay out of it."

Just like Ares... Aphrodite giggled.

"What's so funny?" Xena snapped.

"Nothing babe! So are you gonna tell Dite what happened or what ?"

"Ares just... Ares is just being Ares! He pretended to be my father then tried to get me to kill my mother so I convinced the Furies he was my father. Simple. He lost."

The Goddess of Love frowned. That couldn't possibly be the whole story. Ares wouldn't have been so upset about her foiling his plans. Most of the time he liked seeing her in action like that.

"Are you sure that's all?"

"Yes." Xena said then walked off. Aphrodite decided she would come back and talk to her later. Maybe she could try talking to Ares again...


	5. On Our Way

"What was that all about?" the Bard inquired.

"Nothing."

"Xena," Gabrielle stressed firmly, throwing the Warrior Princess her famous "I know something's not right " look. "What did Aphrodite want?"

Xena sighed. She knew there was no way in Tartarus to get away with something like that….The Bard would just keep pushing…..It was in her nature…

"She just wanted to talk about Ares," she muttered, thinking that it was worth a try anyway.

"What about….. Him?" the nosy Gabrielle demanded on a rather harsh tone.  
She just couldn't let it go…

"Dammit Gabrielle, can't you just leave it?!"

For a couple of seconds, the Bard was silently shocked at her friend's reaction. She had obviously hit a sore spot. One of the few the mighty Warrior Princess seemed to have….

"There's an army heading towards Potidea. They're looking for slaves." Xena abruptly broke out, surprising her still shaken up friend.

Gabrielle gasped, her green eyes filling with tears.

"Lila!" she said quietly. "We have to go save them!"

"Don't worry Gabrielle, we will."

"But, but why would Ares tell you that?"

Xena was silent, she still didn't know herself. She thought it might have been a disguised apology about what happened...but she still wasn't sure.  
Consequently, she just shrugged lightly, offering the Bard no verbal answer in return.

They walked in silence until night came, when they decided to make camp in a quiet little clearing they had found. A nice warm fire, another insignificant exchange of lines about the attack while they ate, and, shortly after, Xena announced that it was time for them to go to sleep. There were no objections coming from Gabrielle's side-she was beat.

The Warrior Princess was tired too, after all they had been walking all day long but still, her thoughts kept her wide awake.  
Thus, despite herself, she couldn't pretend that she didn't hear Gabrielle tossing and turning in her bedroll. She was obviously tense and worried.

"Gabrielle," Xena's strong voice broke through the night.

The Bard sat up, blinked, rubbed her eyes then looked at Xena.

"Yeah Xena?"

"Its going to be ok," she said affectionately.

Gabrielle smiled at her even though she wasn't totally convinced.

"Go to sleep," said Xena.

After a few minutes the bard finally fell asleep.

* * *

A nice breakfast of roasted rabbit greeted Gabrielle in the morning. Xena had been restless all night and had only got about 2 hours sleep. So she went hunting and did training all night long. A few times the Warrior sensed Ares' presence but ignored it completely, so it soon went away. Straight after breakfast, the two friends set out for Potidea.

Xena rode on Argo as she trotted and Gabrielle walked next to them, talking away as usual.

"Xena….how are you today? Are you ok?"

"Yes."

" No you're not, I can feel it. It's Ares isn't it?"

Xena scoffed at her friend's question but felt a pang at hearing his name.

"What happened between you two?" the Bard soon asked, adamant about receiving a response this time. "I know there's history..."

"Gabrielle. Me and Ares.." she sighed. "…..we go a long way back…."

Gabrielle looked her friend hard in the eye, like she was searching for some more hidden details and meanings. This couldn't be it.

In the end, she decided to leave it alone though - for now.

Suddenly there was a rustle and, a band of thugs jumped down from the trees.

Xena jumped down off Argo and raised an eyebrow at them. They were fully surrounded by 12 fierce looking men but still they were no match for the Warrior Princess.  
The minute they started to advance, Xena made a couple of flips, did the splits and kicked two of them in the head. The next target was strongly kicked in the back. Still, the scum didn't seem to be fast learners since two more came at her from behind and she stuck out both fists and punched them.  
In the meantime, Gabrielle was swinging her staff at a few of the thugs' legs then spun round to knock one on the head. A sword came down and she blocked it then smashed him in the side. Xena ran up a tree then flipped off backwards over the remaining 3 thugs she then grabbed the two on the side of the row heads and smashed them into the middle ones.

At the end, Xena dusted herself off as if nothing had happened- a minor distraction but it helped get her anger out.

Gabrielle was however thinking a bit differently, genuinely worried about how many more they would have to fight off along the way to Potidea which meant wasting a lot of their precious time. She didn't want to get to her hometown when it was too late to be able to do anything.

Still, they continued on their path for a couple of days until they were but one day's ride outside Potidea. They settled down for the night as usual, but Xena was getting more and more restless by the minute. As much as she tried to ignore it, she could feel the presence of a certain leather-clad God hanging around her as she was trying to sleep.

Annoyed, the Warrior grabbed her Chakram and headed towards the woods.


	6. Reality of Us

**Hey guys, please review my work so far :) Thanks!**

"Ares..." her voice was hostile and sharp.

It was all it took for that old familiar 'whosh' to sound behind her. In less than a blink she spun around, eying him angrily.

The War God was just standing there, leaning against a tree as if it were the most natural thing in the world, arms crossed and a thousand dinars smirk on his face looking at his favourite Warrior Princess.

"What do you want?" she inquired icily, without wasting time with useless chit chat.

"The army moving faster..."

Xena rolled her eyes, "We're only a days ride away now, Ares. You don't have to be so concerned." She explicitly mocked him.

The God raised an eyebrow, unfolded his arms then walked towards her.

"I heard Gabrielle was asking about us today," he said, searching for her beautiful, blue moons.

"What **us** are you talking about?" Xena spat. Her eyes looked sadder though even if she was trying to mask it behind her anger.

Without seeming at all bothered by her previous comment, Ares gently took a lock of her hair in his hand, twisting it playfully around his fingers. He then leaned in close to Xena's ear, his breath hot on her neck.

"The us I've always wanted..."

Obviously, she shoved him back, furiously.

"Still trying to get me to lead your armies and be your 'Warrior Queen I see.' " she snarled hurtfully.

"No, Xena it's not about that anymore..."

Without any shadow of a doubt , that was more than the Warrior Princess could take. Raising a mock eyebrow she just laughed at him heartlessly in return.

"Oh let me guess you've fallen in love with me?"

Ares gulped.

"Ha! The God of War pretending to be in love? Why Ares I think you've gone soft. Plus, that's low, even for you."

Hardly had she had the chance to finish her stingy retort though, that the War God gripped her by the shoulders and slammed her into the tree behind her.

"You do not talk to me like that. I never said I love you so shut up!"

He could tell bruises were already forming on her shoulders where his thumbs were digging in.

"You're just a mortal. I can wipe you off the face of the earth in a second!" he continued on a tone that would have made right about anyone loose whatever control they have left…But not Xena….

"But you wouldn't" she broke in. They were both angry now which meant this would not go well.

"You see Ares, I strongly doubt that you could kill your favourite Warrior. Your Chosen."

" So now you're my Chosen " he sneered, almost slapping her. "Well, maybe I'll just find a new Chosen. Someone who I can get a good pounding out of, better than you of course and someone new to lead my armies. A better warrior to shape the face of this god's damn earth."

Xena just glared at him. If he could see her heart it would have been all torn up and bleeding.  
"Yeah, well….let me know when you find him" she broke out , aware of her own value.  
The God stepped back then backhanded her, "Get out of here Xena."

The Warrior Princess, for once, bit back the evil remark on the tip of her tongue and stalked off back to camp.

* * *

"Xena!" Gabrielle gasped the instant she noticed those ugly purple marks on her friend's shoulders. "These bruises, where did you get them from?"

Xena rolled her eyes but flinched when Gabrielle's soft hands touched the surface of her skin, her fingers running over the still throbbing spots.

"It was Ares wasn't it?! That's where you went, to go see 'him' " the overly concerned bard questioned her friend.

"Can we just talk about this some other time...?"

"What is happening to you?!" she exclaimed. "You're letting him hurt you like this?"

"I told you. We go back a long way."

"No. No,no,no,no,no Xena. That is no excuse for this! What else did he do? Did he...?"

"Enough Gabrielle!" Xena harshly broke in. She was sick of her friends fussing and was also starting to get angry.

In exchange, the Bard just stood there looking at her.

"I told you me and Ares have history ok?! It doesn't matter what he does to me. Just leave it and stay out of it." The Warrior's harsh words sprung from her tongue without a second thought.

"Xena, I, I'm sorry."

"It's ok, just leave Ares to me ok?"

The petite Gabrielle nodded and Xena jumped up on Argo then offered her hand to Gabrielle. She got up behind Xena and they started the last part of their journey to Potidea.********


	7. Reminiscence

"Oh come on Areeees! You know you do."

"Dite, I already told you its nothing but lust and passion ok? She's my favourite warrior that's all there is to it."

Aphrodite didn't seem at all convinced though and she firmly began shaking her head, obviously thinking her brother was totally wrong.

"Bro, I'm the Goddess of Love, hello! I know you..."

"Enough Dite!. I don't, ok?, So…..just leave it, will you?….."

"Ares…why do you have to be so pig headed about it? We both know you love her. Can't you just admit it for once? I'm your sister for Gaia's sake!"

Ares sat down in his throne in defeat, sighing deeply.

"Dite, she's never going to love me."

"Ooo, that was like so totally cute! I can't believe you actually used the 'L' word! You're totally smitten Bro'!"

The ditsy Aphrodite was still grinning from ear to ear. He was pretty much admitting that he loved her. Score one for the Love Goddess!

"Well….. why don't you tell her?" she continued, hoping to actually get somewhere with him. The War God had started to love…..The idea itself was incredible…Still, she had no idea about what he'd said or done to Xena the other day.

"I…..uh…. I can't."

Aphrodite giggled, amused by her brother's childish behaviour….Men….it was as if they all shared the same brain….. He was really convinced that she hated him.

"Ares, I'm sure she'll listen, just talk to her."

"I can't! Ok, we had a fight and now she hates me even more! Its over Dite. Any chance I might have had I blew it for good!

For a minute , the Love Goddess actually worried …. Behind all that anger radiating from within him, she could tell that her brother was broken.

"What did you to her?" she asked lowly.

"I told her I was planning to find a new Chosen."

Dite frowned.

"And…..she believed you?"

"Well what else was she supposed to believe? I had her pinned up against a tree for Zeus' sake."

She frowned again, then just uttered what could have been the simplest idea ever.

"Say sorry," she whispered against his ear and then she just vanished.

* * *

In the meantime, the talkative Bard was busy making the Warrior Princess wish she were anywhere else but there with her.

"Can't you just tell me a little bit, Xena?"

"No."

"But I want to know! Please."

Finally, tired and exasperated by her friend's ceaseless solicitations ,Xena let out a sigh.

"Promise not to ask any more."

Gabrielle nodded vigorously.

"Ares has always been there," the blue-eyed beauty started to say. "He's always been a part of me, ever since I first picked up a sword. I didn't know it though, not until the day my brother died… That's when I first felt a presence…..it was him….he appeared to me. He helped me through the loss and ended up teaching me everything I know about the art of war and being a warrior. Sure, I've learned a few lessons of my own along the way, but he made sure I become who I am today. After I left him, I still thought of him all the time, even with Borias. Then I came back for a few years and we became lovers….."

Xena flinched as she said this, "After a few years of being together, I met Hercules and reformed. So now I guess he doesn't care about the love we shared…..for him it's just lust and battles."

She turned slightly to see her friend, listening attentively, hanging onto every word.

"Wow Xena. I didn't know you guys were so... you know..."

The Warrior smirked at her friend.

"Did you..."

"You promised." she reminded Gabrielle.

The bard rolled her eyes, "Well I should definitely put this down in writing. It would make a great story you know..."

"Don't even think about it, Gabrielle" came Xena's prompt response, accompanied by a threatening enough look.

The Bard just smiled sheepishly, already imagining the beginning of the story….


	8. Aftermath of the Fight

"Tie everyone up!" a man shouted. He didn't look like much trouble: medium height, dirty blonde hair, brown eyes and a nice looking sword on his hip…definitely not what one would have expected from a regular warlord….

People were scrambled everywhere as soldiers advanced on them. Suddenly though, when it seemed like there was no chance for those poor peasants to receive any help from somebody, a war cry was heard in the distance, followed by a flash of brown and black hair as the Warrior Princess flipped into a large group of instantly punched several down and kicked two in the head. She then ran up the front of one and flipped off him, making sure to kick him the face in the process. Grabbing her Chakram from her hip was next on her"action list" and with a well aimed throw she masterly took out 10 of the soldiers…... Quite a show!

Meanwhile, Gabrielle was gathering all the children, guiding them to safety.

It was soon time for Xena to draw her sword and parry two blows, expertly swinging the blade around to stab the thug behind her. Only 25 left now. It was only a small army, not too much work…..She quickly began her usual dance, blocking several swings from a couple of men then giving them a side slash each…..Nothing out of the ordinary…just doing what she did best in order to buy the Bard some more time to evacuate the rest of the villagers, without noticing that in the meantime Gabrielle had already picked up her staff and started fighting a bunch of soldiers coming from her right. With surprising easiness, she blocked several deadly strikes then smashed them in the side and stomach.

The last fifteen were easily disposed of by the Warrior Princess.

Once everyone was safe again and calmed down they finally recognised Gabrielle.

"Gabrielle. Hey, let me through! Gabrielle!"

She turned and saw her sister Lila pushing through the crowd to get to her.

"Lila!" she cried out and rushed to embrace her sister.

Xena stood back watching, a broad smile on her face but when she saw Gabrielle's parents coming, she walked away.

* * *

Once she was alone, at the outskirts of town, Ares appeared next to her and equally surprising her and himself, sat down next to her on the log.

"Hey."

"What?"

"Look Xena…I know this won't do too much good anyway, but, uh…I just wanted to say I'm sorry."

The Warrior Princess' eyes widened at first in obvious surprise and then, as if she had heard a good joke she laughed and snarled.

"Well, you are definitely right about something for the first time in your life Ares. It won't do much good. So….no need to bother"

After a brief pause in which she simply stared at the ground she restarted, her voice clearly more angrier:

"I mean….did you really expect me to fall for that one? I thought you were better than that Dad."

"Come on Xena…don't tell me that you actually believe that I'm your..."

He was abruptly cut off by the Warrior Princess' mocking retort.

"Let me guess, you're going to tell me you're not…."

"Xena," he said seriously, cupping her chin, making her look at him. "I am not your father"

She didn't say anything."I'm not saying I haven't done some pretty twisted stuff in my life but…. doing my own daughter? Are you kidding me? That's a bit too much even for me…" he smirked"

"Maybe…maybe not…"

Ares gaped at her. She didn't believe him and even if she did, she didn't care.

"Goddammit Xena!" He cried out, exasperated. "Couldn't you just trust me for once?! I never meant to hurt you the other night, ok? You know I'd never do that on purpose…..Plus I already said I'm sorry ok?! Tartarus, I'd give up all of Zeus' green earth just to be with you. Arghh!"

Xena blinked, shocked by the God's very abrupt and angry reaction. To her boundless surprise, in all the anger, she also detected pain and…..something else….something that she didn't dare name but that was definitely there…..? No, it couldn't be. He was War and War can't love...can it?

"...What are you saying?" she asked a little hesitantly.

"I, uh..." The God stumbled over his words, avoiding her gaze before finally decided to look her in the eyes. "Nothing….just forget it, ok Xena?"

"No, I want to know," she stubbornly insisted.

The only response she got though, was a blue flash as he disappeared.


	9. Things Have Changed

**Dedication: Xentrya, thanks for working with me on this. You made it all the more better! :) xx**

* * *

"I'm really glad this is over Xena."

"It's never really over is it?" the Warrior Princess said, putting an arm around her friend.

"No, I guess not. Hey, but you know what's strange?" the Bard replied gazing inquisitively towards the blue eyed beauty.

"No, but I bet you'll tell me…."

"That Ares hasn't shown up…You'd think he'd have come to 'visit' you….."

Xena looked down almost sadly, offering no answer in return, a reaction that it only took one second for the petite Blonde to notice.

"Xena? What's wrong?"

"Nothing…"

"Come on…I saw that look"

"What look?!" the Warrior Princess inquired craftily avoiding her friend's eyes and focusing instead on brushing lightly Argo's thick feather.

"That look that you usually have when you're trying to avoid some sensitive subject ….like Ares….So just let me in on it…..what did the Bastard do this time…..?."

"Calm Down Gabrielle. He hasn't done anything."

"Well just so we're clear, the mere fact that he didn't try to kill us lately doesn't count, ok?…He might have done something else…"

"Why don't we drop the subject and talk about your scrolls in return? Have you written anything new lately?."

"See? That's what I'm talking about Warrior Princess…..And before you say anything else, I know that this is all about that twisted past you two share….I can tell….."

The Warrior, who had started to walk, stopped dead in her tracks and looked at Gabrielle with wide eyes, momentarily stunned by her words.

" What makes you think that?"

"As I said…..I'm a Bard…Bards are tender-hearted people Xena…when love is involved, we're the first one to notice…after Aphrodite of course….."

"Love?! Who said anything about love…..?!"

"Well one has to be blind not to notice how tense you get each time he's around…..You obviously have **"unresolved issues" **if you know what I mean" Gabrielle said carefully studying Xena's expression.

"I don't know what you're talking about Gabrielle" she mumbled, staring ahead.

"Right…I wasn't expecting any other answer. But I still think that the two of you should talk about it, even if I kinda hate his guts. It does wonders for the troubled spirit you know. Homer said that himself….." the Bard said, taking Argo's reins from Xena's hands and walking ahead. "And if you wonder what I'm doing, I'm giving you some space…"

The Warrior Princess was dumbfounded. She had never suspected Gabrielle out of all people to be so…observant….She always seemed way to plunged in a world of her own to pay mind to anything else…

* * *

When her friend was far enough though, after a few more minutes of thought, she decided to give Homer's wise advice a fair chance and call the War God…..

"Ares!" she yelled, her voice clear in the evening air. 30 second of precious delay and a blue light formed in front of her and then disappeared, revealing in it's place the leather-clad God of War himself.

"Yes Princess?" He asked a bit irritated by her call.

"What were you trying to say the other day?" she demanded, wasting no time with greetings.

The War God looked her in the eyes and took a few steps closer until he could almost touch her but just far enough for her to have to make the final move and close in the distance.

"What? What are you trying to say?" she asked again on a more demanding tone this time.

"You know what I'm trying to say..."

"No, I don't, so tell me."

Instead of a proper reply though, Ares pulled her abruptly towards him, planting a long, bruising kiss on her lips.

"You know what they say... a kiss is worth a thousand words," the God said when they finally broke apart. Xena was breathless as she gave her reply:

"No, I don't think I've ever heard of that one."

"Ask Aphrodite."

Xena couldn't restrain a bemused chuckle.

He just grinned back at her, "So, please tell me, you know I'm not your father."

Xena looked shocked, "Oh but, my Lord, I thought you were!" she joked and then added in all seriousness : "I guess I couldn't have fallen for that one right…?"

"Good …..so uh….Am I forgiven and everything…..?" he asked wrapping his arms around her waist kissing her again.

"I don't know about that…Maybe you should try to make it up to me for once…." she whispered back, smiling devilishly, her eyes sparkling with glee.

"Hmmmm…and just what does my beautiful Princess have in mind?" he replied on an equally seductive tone.

Suddenly yelling could be heard, breaking the spell of the moment and the Warrior Princess pushed herself out of his arms and listened intently, ready to help whoever was in trouble.

"Xena, Xena!" the Bard screeched running like a lunatic their way.

Both the God and his Chosen rolled their eyes.

"There's a small army plundering the village ahead!"

"I guess I'd better let you work…I'll see you later," Ares murmured in Xena's ear. She simply nodded, offering him an affectionate smile.

"Lets go," she told the still huffing and puffing Bard, drawing her sword, getting ready for action.

"Xena…?"

"Yes Gabrielle…?"

"He will try to convince you to be his Warrior Queen again, rule the world and all that, you know….."

"No he won't….." the raven beauty replied very sure of herself while scouting on ahead. "Things have changed…"

FIN

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